


New Adventures

by franglemand



Category: Bunheads
Genre: Dancers, Discussion of relationships, Gen, Misses Clause Challenge, Other, hint at possible future f/f, vague discussion of sexuality
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-19
Updated: 2015-12-19
Packaged: 2018-05-07 17:13:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5464517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/franglemand/pseuds/franglemand
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>First professional show at the new theatre! How are everyone's nerves?</p><p>Happy Yuletide!</p>
            </blockquote>





	New Adventures

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Deifire](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Deifire/gifts).



“I told you you should have just stayed in with me.”

“Fanny, we’ve discussed this. I wanted to have sex and I’m not having sex with my mother-in-law.”

“You’re so narrow-minded sometimes. I don’t understand how you lived in Vegas.”

“I am not narrow-minded! I just don’t want to be interviewed by _Closer_ magazine for their next real life feature. Who says you’re out of luck when your husband dies? Read about this woman’s true account of moving on after her husband’s untimely death... to have sex with her mother-in-law! Turn to page 5 for more details!”

“Well now you’re just being ridiculous. I just thought it was a practical solution to an everyday problem. We’re both adults and I assume you weren’t looking for a grand love affair when you went out to Sand Bar: Surf in Your Eyes!. Or are you just completely uninterested in women? I assume you’ve had sex with dancers before.”

“... That wasn’t the name of the bar. And I can’t believe we’re having this conversation. Can we please move onto talking about the girls?”

“You can’t sleep with them. Godot is as young as you can get away with.”

“Ugh! Why would you say that?! No! The show! I want to talk about what the girls are doing in the show!”

“Oh. Well, I’m pleased to hear you _do_ know that you are no longer a teenager at least. The girls will be arriving at 10. You will help them get ready and organise the ushers. Truly is on hand for last minute costume problems, Millie will be talking to the press and finalising our numbers of ticket sales and I will make sure that our guests have everything they need.”

“I’m organising the ushers? Joy of joys.”

“Stop complaining. If I could trust you not to mace anyone, you could help out with our performers and take some of that work off my hands. As things stand, I think it’s safest if we keep you away from anyone important. Seriously though, no macing anyone this time.”

 ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“What on earth..?”

“Sasha, you’re here!” Boo ran up and gave her friend a hug, then put her hands on her shoulders and tried to look serious. “Our very first professional engagement. Can you believe we’re here? I saw the Professionals arrive; Fanny is looking after them in their own dressing room. Can you believe we’re here?”

Sasha gently removed Boo’s hands from her shoulders. “Yes, Boo, shockingly enough I can comprehend that we are at our dance school theatre and will be dancing today. Please stop vibrating, it’s very distracting.”

“But aren’t you excited? Our first real show as real, paid dancers!” Boo barely restrained herself from bouncing on the spot.

“It’s not like we have much to do. We’re only included because the troop that’s coming lost half their junior members to chicken pox last week and Fanny was desperate for them not to cancel. It’s really not that big a deal.”

“Well, it’s a big deal to me,” Boo said firmly. “We’re going to be on stage with real actors and dancers _and_ we get paid. I don’t care what you say, it’s our first dancing job and I’m excited. Did I tell you Carl’s doing a feature on it for the school newspaper?”

“... we have a school newspaper?”

“Yes! I think. Or maybe he’s starting one. I’m not sure. But he’s doing an article on the show and Des is coming to take photographs!”

Both girls turned as the door opened.

“Sasha, tell Melanie that Des is her boyfriend and she needs to sort out what she’s doing with him.”

Sasha shook her head in apparent bemusement, then smiled brightly. “Ginny! Hello! So nice to see you. Why would I be telling Mel any such thing?”

“See? I told you! Des is not my boyfriend. We’re just... I don’t know... doing stuff together sometimes.”

“He’s here again today! He just turns up, you give him stuff to do and then he goes away again! I’m telling you, it’s weird. He acts like he’s your boyfriend.”

“He’s here today because he’s taking photos for the school paper.” (Boo turned to Sasha with a smug expression. Sasha rolled her eyes.) “He is not my boyfriend.”

Ginny made a noise of pure frustration. “It’s been months! Do you even like him? Have you kissed?”

“No, yuck! But he’s ok, I guess. Ugh, what does it matter anyway? Can we just get ready?" Melanie paused and leaned against a wall to remove her outdoor shoes. "Anyone know what time we’re supposed to be on stage for the final notes?”

“Aha my children, ask and ye shall be answered!” Michelle bustled through the door, barely visible behind an armful of costumes, a huge shoulder bag and a pile of papers. The girls rushed to help her (before anything got dropped, broken, knocked over or mysteriously lost, Boo thought to herself). “I have here your final timetable for the day, all your costume changes and a plea from Truly not to crease or dirty anything because the last time she used this material for a costume, she could hear it crying for days. It’s very sensitive, apparently.”

Sasha looked at her, eyebrows raised. “You think the material will cry if we make it dirty?”

“No, Sasha, but I do think that Truly will cry and she will haunt me for days like a weird Niobe-like Casper the friendly ghost and I’d really like to avoid that if at all possible. Please look after your costumes.”

“Michelle, will _you_ tell Melanie that Des thinks he’s her boyfriend and she needs to sort out whatever it is they’re doing?”

“Ginny, would you let it go! Nobody cares about my love life anywhere near as much as you do and it’s getting creepy!”

“Huh! I like that! I try to look out for my best friend and all the response I get is to be told I’m creepy-“

“I didn’t say you were creepy,” Mel sighed, “I just meant-“

“Oh well that’s alright then! Did you hear that Boo? Mel doesn’t mean to say that _I’m_ creepy-“

_Peeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!_

Michelle put her whistle down as the girls stared at her. “Much better. Ginny, Mel; we have a show today. I understand that this is very important to both of you but would you please both remember that you are friends and that today at least you are professional dancers who are about to take part in a professional show. Yes Boo, you may jump for joy if you wish.

Ginny, it’s lovely that you’re looking out for your friend but you can’t make her live her life as you wish. If Mel is happy as things are, then that’s fine.

Mel, I hate to say it but Ginny does have a point. That boy follows you around like a lost puppy. A very large lost puppy. Like that one from the Neverending Story. But quieter.”

(Sasha made a face and gestured _Get on with it!_  as firmly as she could without attracting anyone else’s attention. Michelle pulled a face in return.)

“Anyway, returning to the point at hand. Des does make every appearance of wanting to be your boyfriend. If you’re enjoying the part where he follows you around adoringly -or, well, follows you around like a puppy who is pretty sure you’re going to give it food at some point even if it doesn’t know when - then more power to you. If you actually want to date him, you might want to talk to him about going out on a proper date or, frankly, talk to him at all. Or at least spend more time with him doing... other things that I’m sure we both know about and if you don’t you’ll find out in some way that doesn’t involve me telling you and your parents killing me. If you have no interest in ever having him as a boyfriend, you might want to tell him that.”

Mel looked doubtful. “How do I know if I have interest in having him as a boyfriend? I mean, he’s fine. Just like all the other boys. And I don’t have any good reason _not_ to date him.”

Michelle raised her eyebrows and tried not to look horrified. “Mel,” she said quietly, “ _Because I don’t want to_ is a perfectly good reason not to date someone. Even if you can’t explain it any further than that. Let me ask you something, do you like talking to Des?”

“... it’s alright. He knows a lot about some stuff. That can be pretty interesting.”

“Ok. Do you enjoy spending time with him?”

“I guess?”

“Do you want to spend time with Des more than you want to spend time with your friends? More than you want to dance? More than you want to do the thing that we don’t talk about when Fanny might be lurking because it breaks about a hundred of her rules about not doing dangerous activities where you might get hurt?”

“... if I spent more time with him I might get to like him more? Of course I like my friends more than I like him. That’s normal, isn’t it?”

“It’s completely normal to like spending time with your friends. One more question, Mel, and it’s one you need to be able to answer for yourself honestly, even if you don’t answer me. Do you have any interest in kissing him? In doing the horizontal tango with him? Because I’m not saying that you should do either of those things but if you have no desire to do anything like that with him and you have equally limited interest in talking to him or hanging out with him, then you might want to consider that you just don’t have any interest in him as a boyfriend. And in that case you really should tell him that.”

A bell ringing suddenly made them all jump. “That’s your cue to go to the stage for final notes. Go! Fly my pretties! Get your notes then come back here and we’ll get you all ready for the show. You shall go to the ball, Cinderellas!”

Sasha smirked at her on her way out the door. “You are the weirdest Fairy Godmother I’ve ever heard of.”

  



End file.
